Pay and prices

Inflation and earnings both on the rise (228 words)

The month of May saw inflation - as measured by the retail price index (RPI) - increase to 2.8% from 2.5% the previous month. ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (216 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...

Other pay analysts (23 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end May 2004) 2.9% ...

Average earnings indices (157 words)

Feb 03 (r) 110.0 2.9 4.4 2.4 2.4 5.2 ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (28 words)

All workers £498.20 ...

Inflation forecasts (29 words)

Fourth quarter 2004 ...

Prices (59 words)

April 03 181.2 3.1 3.0 ...

Bargaining news

Stakeholder pensions are set to cost more (355 words)

The government is allowing the pensions industry to charge more for stakeholder pensions. ...

Aluminium workers hold out for 2.8% (203 words)

Hard bargaining at Anglesey Aluminium finally yielded a 2.8% pay settlement for 420 process and engineering workers last month - matching the recently announced ...

Drugs firm AAH simplifies its pay structure (202 words)

Pharmaceuticals wholesaler AAH has simplified its pay structure, abolishing the junior rate and replacing a number of grades with a single warehouse rate. There ...

Overtime to be replaced by "hours banking" at Voith (220 words)

A system of "hours banking" is expected to improve flexibility and job security next year at paper-finishing machinery manufacturer Voith Paper in Manchester. ...

Pay is rising slowly for school support staff (401 words)

Pay for the growing numbers of support staff now working at schools in England and Wales is "beginning to improve slowly", according to a ...

NHS pay reforms are delayed until December (373 words)

The complex process of implementing a new pay system for the National Health Service (NHS) will now take slightly longer than planned. ...

Higher education pay row is finally settled (224 words)

A long-running row over pay for university academic staff ended in April as members of the AUT union voted to accept the negotiated framework ...

Rail firms in row over holiday pay (241 words)

The Amicus general union is to launch a major investigation into breaches of the working time regulations among rail maintenance companies. ...

Equality news

Employers see benefits of diversity (237 words)

Equality and diversity measures are increasingly seen by employers to have business benefits, says Opportunity Now, the business-led campaign which encourages employers to tackle ...

Government considers increase in parental leave (244 words)

The Labour party is considering extending paid maternity leave for a further six months and giving fathers greater rights to time off, as part ...

New equality body may fail disabled people (451 words)

While plans for a single equalities commission have been welcomed by equality organisations, the government's Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has said it remains concerned ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Recruitment of London cleaners wins pay rise - and an award (290 words)

UNISON's Waltham Forest branch claimed top spot in the public services union's organising and recruitment awards, announced last month, for its campaign among cleaners ...

Learning and training news

Union members get more training (299 words)

Only one in four (26%) employees who are not union members are likely to have received job-related training in the last three months, according ...

UNISON opens doors to learning (264 words)

Public services union UNISON has signed an agreement with the Open University (OU) that will provide greater learning opportunities for the union's members. ...

European news

Spain's minimum wage makes up for lost time (267 words)

The new Spanish government has increased the national minimum wage, to make up for past losses in real terms. ...

German unions settle at around inflation (392 words)

Workers in Germany's chemical and paper industries and in the postal company Deutsche Post have signed pay agreements broadly in line with the current ...

Italian teleworkers gain equal rights (201 words)

Unions and employers in Italy this month reached agreement on the rights of "teleworkers" (those who work at home or otherwise away from their ...

Metal unions agree common front (114 words)

European unions in the metalworking sector have agreed not to reach any pay agreements which are lower than a combination of inflation plus the ...

Health & safety news

Pregnant women at risk in the workplace (318 words)

More than two-thirds of pregnant workers are exposed to danger because employers ignore a legal duty to carry out risk assessments, a survey by ...

NUT wins major stress case (283 words)

The House of Lords has reversed one of the cases in a landmark Court of Appeal ruling, by awarded damages to a schoolteacher who ...

Firefighters boycott mock chemical attack (93 words)

Firefighters have boycotted an anti-terrorist exercise after their union advised them not to take part in the mock chemical attack at Dundee harbour. Firefighters' ...

Safety whistleblower wins tribunal (98 words)

A former manager of a Kent-based charity for blind children is to be awarded compensation by a tribunal after blowing the whistle on alleged ...

ISTC wins damages (99 words)

A Doncaster engineering worker whose hand was crushed as he tried to save workmates from injury has been awarded a four-figure sum in damages. ...

Colleges must tackle the causes of stress (75 words)

Universities and colleges must tackle causes of stress, says education union NATFHE. ...

Features

Contract law (499 words)

Developments this month include rulings on the extent of employers' duty of care, and on objections to contractual changes agreed with unions ...

Changes to contracts (316 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Definition of employees (144 words)

Case 3: The facts ...

Governing bodies (109 words)

Case 4: The facts ...

Stop and search (150 words)

Case 5: The facts ...

Agency workers (130 words)

Case 6: The facts ...

Breach of an implied term (192 words)

Case 7: The facts ...

Duty of care (518 words)

Case 8: The facts ...

Transfer law (260 words)

This month's cases consider definitions of "stable economic entities" and "emanations of the state", and the status under TUPE of shop stewards and those ...

Identifying an entity (159 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Identifying transferred employees (137 words)

Case 2: The facts ...

Union victimisation claims (231 words)

Case 3: The facts ...

Insolvency (172 words)

Case 4: The facts ...

Emanation of the state (155 words)

Case 5: The facts ...

Timing of a transfer (109 words)

The House of Lords has referred to the European Court of Justice a case concerning the calculation of the point in time when a ...

Statutory recognition (249 words)

An employer can block a claim for statutory recognition by concluding a recognition agreement with another body, but only if that other body is ...

Expelling fascists (157 words)

Unions can expel members of the British National Party, provided there is a union rule that covers the manner of the expulsion. ...

Breaks and working time (220 words)

Exclusions to the right to rest breaks under the Working Time Regulations 1998 on the grounds of a need for continuous activity must focus ...

HSE accused of limiting investigations into deaths (199 words)

Deaths of and injuries to members of the public are no longer subject to inquiry by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors, according to ...

Report criticises drift towards self-regulation (142 words)

Britain's new occupational health and safety strategy is jeopardising workers' health by leaving health and safety enforcement to employers, warns a new report published ...

Stress consultation could bypass safety reps (208 words)

The TUC is warning that a consultation by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) on work-related stress may exclude safety reps. ...

"Compensation culture" is a myth (128 words)

Employers' claims that Britain has a "compensation culture" - where workers take legal action for the slightest reason - are unfounded, according to a ...

Consultation on rehabilitation (147 words)

The government has opened a consultation on vocational rehabilitation, with a discussion paper that "aims to help people overcome health or disability-related barriers they ...

Why employers should cough up for sickness absence (2913 words)

When retail giant Tesco announced last month that it was piloting a range of schemes to cut back on sickness absence, including the withdrawal ...

Driving down working time in the road transport industry (2489 words)

The European Road Transport Directive will put the brakes on excessive working hours for drivers from early next year. Workplace Report examines the likely ...